The first world premiere trailer at the 10th Annual Spike Video Game Awards opened with an original IP from a newly developed studio in Sweden. Host Samuel L. Jackson enticed the worldwide audience by boasting that the trailer contained "100% gameplay." It did, in fact, look stunning. But The Phantom Pain isn't an upcoming game at all -- it's an elaborate teaser for Kojima's Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes.

For now it's obviously a hunch, but allow me these several observations to support the hunch.

First, the protagonist in the hospital is constantly shown from behind. From that angle, however, we see an iconic mullet, and a white bandage wrapped around the figure's injured head which looks eerily reminiscent of Solid Snake's trademark bandana. When the camera does tease us with a more revealing view, we even see a beard and a chiseled face.

As several of my Twitter followers observed, the narrative and visuals from the trailer are dripping with Hideo Kojima's influence. Speaking of visuals, it was a showcase for an impressive graphics engine...and it looked an awful lot like the Fox Engine that Kojima Productions unveiled earlier this year.

Speculation has exploded on NeoGAF, with one user stating "This is clearly an elaborate troll by Kojima." Adding fuel to the fire is Spike TV personality Geoff Keighley's promise that one of the reveals tonight would be cryptic -- and thus far everything but The Phantom Pain has been straightforward.

Metal Gear fans will undoubtedly find more clues in the trailer -- such as the masked figure toward the end who seems to be manipulating the protagonist's vision -- much like the infamous Psycho Mantis from Metal Gear Solid.

But here's a megaton clue, unearthed by Lance Roth of RPGamex.com (he's sitting next to me at the VGA press lounge): The CEO of Moby Dick Studio is Joakim Mogren. Unscramble his first name and what do you get? KOJIMA.

Update 1: Several savvy readers have pointed out that this trailer is likely a Metal Gear Solid V reveal, not another glimpse into Ground Zeroes. This image lends credence to that claim:

Update 2: I just walked through the Sony Pictures lot with a Konami representative, who laughed knowingly after viewing this article and said "I can't confirm or deny anything."

Since joining Forbes in 2012, I've also contributed to gaming and technology features on PCWorld and Computer Shopper. You can also find me on Jupiter Broadcasting where I host Choose Linux, a show about capturing the excitement of discovering Linux....